Thawne
by Ozborn
Summary: Eobard Thawne is many things. A gifted mind, an expert combatant, the greatest enemy the Flash has ever known. This is the story of Eobard Thawne long before becoming the Reverse Flash.
1. Chapter 1: Blood Will Run

**Author's note: '{}' Shows a foreign language being spoken translated to English.**

_**[May 1st, 2465]**_

_**"{My name is Eobard Thawne}."**_

Eobard shivered as he sat inside of the teepee. A wool blanket was draped over his shoulders, the teepee was large but dark, held together by wooden poles. He could see that the inner linings of it were made out of buffalo skins. The only heat came from a small flame in the center. He warmed his hands by the flame. Slowly he could feel the blood circulating again, his cheeks and palms warming. Wind heavily scraped against the outside of the teepee, the poles swaying every so often. He sniffled, his hair was soaking wet, the result of an unexpected plunge into the icy waters along the trek. Despite his runny nose, he could faintly smell the aroma of food. As a result his stomach began to grumble, he shuffled embarrassedly. Beside him was his translatron, a revolutionary gadget capable of translating every known language with ease and then some. It was one which demolished the limits of the known language barrier. It certainly went a long way here in the outskirts of Nyarl-Amen. For months Eobard had been anticipating this moment, counting the days until he would be able to meet the villagers and study their culture. The fishmen of Nyarl-Amen, their bodies were an oddity. A curious bewilderment. Some of their heads were a slimy shade of green, others were a fiery orange. Some were as pale as the ice under his feet. Yet their eyes were all like dark pits, Eobard couldn't tell if they were happy he had arrived, or seething with rage that he did. He couldn't read them and that fact scared him. Yet he still sat equally amazed by them, like their name implied, these men and women had the bodies of humans and yet the heads of fishes. It was a wonderfully gross juxtaposition of physiology and anatomy and yet it worked ever so smoothly.

_**"{We are pleased to meet you}."**_

Said Vexus, the leader of the tribe. Eobard smiled, he was out of the metaphorical woods now. His heart thumped with excitement, knowing that he could go on with the work which he was meant to do. Eobard reached for his duffel bag, pulling it to his side, he rummaged through it before pulling out an ever-so thin glass tablet, lighting up as he held it.

"{I was sent here by the Department of Cultural Studies at the Metro-Polis Academy. I believe you had spoken with my professor about this already, but I'm the ethnographer assigned to your tribe. I am looking very forward to living with you all until the harvest.}"

Vexus simply nodded his head, the dozens of other fishmen had crowded behind him, Eobard could tell that they were enamored by this conversation. He was an outsider looking in. Following Vexus' nod of the head, Eobard tapped a button on his tablet, and suddenly a digipen materialized, this action caused several of the fishmen to stumble back in sheer surprise. He couldn't help but smile, these indigenous people were so unaware of the most simple and common technological advances. They would be no less shocked by a plastic bag. He clicked the digipen and pressed it to the glass surface of his tablet, still smiling as he looked at Vexus.

"{I think we have a lot of work to do.}"

_**[January 28th, 2471]**_

Central City was alive, a bustling city of commerce and movement, the city was fast-paced and its citizens expected no less. Mega-corporations stood tall one after the other. Towering monuments littered the corners. Central City was an industrial behemoth. The sky was a rich bright blue, hardly any clouds to be seen. Several pedestrians flocked to the streets, walking down every sidewalk and corner. Some went for work, others for a jog. Some went to the bakeries and others to the park. From the bottom to the top, Central City was beautiful. Hanging from the city like vines was the massive monorail. An interconnected network of transportation systems meeting the accommodations of the many citizens. Hundreds of people flocked day in and day out into the hypertrain. Whether they had to go to work or to school was irrelevant. No matter the cause they all packed into the hypertrain every day like sardines. This day was to be no different. Atleast that was the plan.

The hypertrain made its way speeding through the monorail, reaching several destinations in a matter of mere minutes. Everything was going smoothly until the hypertrain began to skid, it screeched to an abrupt halt. Several people stumbled and fell as a result of the hasty stop. The herd of people were left dazed and confused, they began to scour to the windows, peering outside, trying to see the tracks in front of them, wondering what could have happened. They saw a thin woman standing on the monorail tracks, she had bare feet, her dark black hair flowed down to her shoulders and completely obscured her face. If that wasn't enough to raise concerns, she was dressed in odd garments. The clothing was old, faded, it was a sort of costume, and on the center of the costume was an emblem, hastily sewn in. No one dared utter a single word, it wasn't as if they could find the right set of words to use anyway. The situation was simply bizarre. The woman began to raise her head, her face still hidden by her hair. The commuters all managed to now get a better look at the emblem on her chest: an S.

It was a sight to see, but one that didn't last long as the woman then erupted. An explosion enveloped her and teared through the monorail, the commuters all cried out in horror as blood and guts spewed out from all directions, their ears were deafened by the blasts. Smoke and the smell of putrid blood stung at the nostrils. Smoke and fire soon began to envelope the whole monorail, causing the commuters to scream and cry out even more.

In his ten years on the police force, Augustus Finney thought he had seen it all. But life had its ways of maintaining the element of surprise at all times. Day in and day out he put his life on the line for the safety of Central City. It was a job that was demanding, and definitely not easy, but he was damn good at it. He strode down a narrow hallway within the precinct, a bustling space filled with Central City's finest running across back and forth in a busy frenzy. Sometimes it felt like a mix between a rodeo and a wall street floor. He let out a huff, readjusting his service cap.

"We've got an incident down at the transport hub, something happened on the tracks. Fire department's already down there but you should check it out." An officer informed Augustus, walking up to him as they continued down the hallway.

"My NOVA told me about the monorail, but do we know what caused the explosion?" Augustus asked the officer, pulling a card out from his pocket as they reached a metal door. He pressed the card against it, the doors hissed, like steam rising from a kettle until they slid apart, unlocking.

"Some of the commuters on the hypertrain said they saw a barefoot woman on the train, they couldn't get a good look at her face because her hair was obscuring it."

"Oh got it, so we're looking for the girl from 'The Ring'?" Augustus retorted. The two stepping into a vast garage filled with several sleek and futuristic police cars.

"They said she was wearing a Supergirl costume, sir."

"So she was doing historic cosplay?"

"Doesn't matter what the slag she was going for, but it'd be in your interest to see for yourself given that you're the chief investigative officer."

Augustus let out a sigh as he walked up to a nearby police hovercar. The hovercars were as one would expect: sleek and powerful. With ultrasonic sensors and dual swingup doors. The two officers promptly got seated inside of the sleek vehicle.

"I know, I'll let the others know to join us. I'll see what Eobard thinks too." Upon Augustus' response, the other officer let out a noticeable groan.

"Do you have a problem with Eobard, Jensen?" Augustus asked, squeezing into the driver's seat, his stomach pressing against the steering wheel uncomfortably. He let out a sigh, tapping his hand to a button on the side of the chair, sliding him back slightly. Augustus wasn't fat, he was just merely a few pounds heavier than he would've liked to be. Not fat. Surely.

"Well if I'm being completely honest, sir, and I mean completely honest, I think Eobard is a self-centered dreg on top of being a narcissistic asshole. I think the only reason we still keep him on is because of Glass Stone." Jensen battered.

"Alright, so you're not a fan.." Augustus joked, the car began to hover slightly above the ground. His hand clutched onto the gear stick, shifted gears and pulling out of the garage and into traffic. "He's a bit hard to work with, sure. But you can't deny, he's the best consultant we've ever had. Say what you will about Glass Stone but we need him. So we need him now."

Sometimes Eobard felt like he was a man out of his time. A man too smart for these people. A man who wasn't truly appreciated. But people often feared those they didn't understand. That rather summed up Eobard's life quite well. His life was like one string of events, some good, some bad. His head was often stuck in the clouds, of his unrealistic aspirations and fantasies. Dreams. Dreams could be just that: dreams. Eobard wished he could have lived during the age of the heroes. They had king faded from now, but never fading away from Eobard's mind. He latched onto those fables, having been raised off of the stories. But there was one tall tale, one brave and unique story which always captivated him. The Flash. The Flash was something else a different breed entirely. The Flash represented something. A purity. Integrity, faith. It wasn't as if those qualities didn't exist in other heroes, it was simply that it was the Flash who Eobard truly took notice of. For Eobard, the Flash was the true golden standard.

**[Outer Central City Transport Hub]**

Eobard strode toward the investigation scene, his dark Oxford shoes thumping across the ground, but before he could go any further he stopped. Eobard took note of the transparent holographic barrier in front of him. In bright yellow words it read: **ACTIVE INVESTIGATION. DO NOT ENTER. VERIFICATION REQUIRED**. His identification tag dangled across his neck, hanging over his Irish brown tweed suit. Eobard carefully pulled it off from his neck, careful as to not rough up his carefully combed strawberry blond hair, and pressed the ID tag to the front scanner. Gigantic monorails towered over Eobard's head. A fact which skightly unsettled Eobard. They were supposed to be secure, always fixed into place, but so were the tracks and yet a part of those broke off into a noticeable lump of debris which Eobard saw piled in front of him. He tapped his foot impatiently. A few long seconds later the barrier dissipated, Eobard stepped through and behind him the barrier reformed once again.

"Was there anything important on the hypertrain?" Eobard asked as he walked up to Augustus, whose servant cap was tucked under his arm, his hand scratched at his bald head. Eobard recognized what that meant: deep thinking.

"Oh not much, just the lives of hundreds of innocent people." Augustus whipped.

"You know what I meant, Augustus. One of your guys paged my NOVA, told me there was a body." Eobard explained.

"Well—parts of a body may be more accurate. Check it out." Augustus replied, starting to lead him down the investigation site, that was when Eobard first saw it, blood had soaked into the ground. He carefully danced across the puddles of blood, his expensive shoes didn't need to be bathed in sanguine. Then came the smell, it hit him like one of the hypertrains, horribly putrid. His face scrunched up, his eyes squinted in response to the fowl smell. He slowly reached a noticeably sized lump on the ground, a stained white tarp covering it. He crouched down, raising his arm up to Augustus.

"Give me some gloves." He ordered, a crowd of other officers began to form around the two.

"You didn't bring your own?" Augustus asked.

"I came here as fast as I could, the thought slipped my mind. Does *anybody* have a pair?" Eobard asked once again, an officer then lurched forward, handing a pair to Eobard. He slipped the gloves onto his hands quickly, then lifted the tarp up, several officers turned their heads away from the disgusting sight.

"Take a quick break, guys." Augustus advised, the crowd then dispersed, once again leaving the two of them with the remains of the body. Her skin was stained with blood. Everything from the neck down was horribly burnt. Like meat left on the barbecue grill for far too long. The carnage only went down to her lower abdomen. In fact, the entire lower level was torn off, as if bitten off by a shark. His gloved fingers lightly hovered over the burnt skin, he could still feel the scorching heat radiating off of it.

"Where are her legs?" Eobard asked, his eyes still focused on what was left of the body.

"It's...MIA." Augustus informed him, Eobard lifted his head up from the body, puzzled.

"Where's forensics?" Eobard asked, his interest now peaked.

"They're uh..currently searching for her legs." Augustus admitted embarrassedly.

"Isn't scrounging for dismembered body parts a bit above their pay grade?"

"What you're doing now is above YOUR paygrade." Augustus dryly quipped. A slight smile forming on his face. Eobard rolled his eyes and rose up from the ground. Cupping his chin as he stared down at the dead body.

"What do you think, Professor?" Augustus queried his friend.

"I told you to stop calling me that." Eobard voiced annoyedly. "But it seems like she detonated from the inside, I mean that could explain the jagged dismemberment and charring. We should send her over to the lab. Maybe I can try to draw up some of her blood, see if there's anything inside there."

"You know maybe we should start promote you." Augustus waged.

"Yeah..but then you wouldn't be able to boss me around as much." Eobard grinned. "The Supergirl costume, or atleast what's left of it..I'm not sure what the deal is with that."

"I told Jensen about the possibility of it being cosplay." Augustus joked.

**[CCPD] **

"Isn't that funny? A thousand years later and the word 'asshole' has still managed to stay within our vernacular." Eobard exclaimed, walking into a cadaver lab, switching on the lights. The body of the woman, legs now included, was now planted onto the metal autopsy table.

"Yeah, Jensen's very big on the preservation of ancient profanity." Augustus responded. "Look, maybe it wouldn't kill you to be a little...less I don't know, snarky with Jensen. He's a good guy."

"I'm sure he is. You want me to send him a card saying I'm sorry I hurt his feelings?" He quipped sarcastically, Augustus simply rolled his eyes and left the lab, having more pressing matters to turn to evidently.

Eobard went to the table, hardly noticing that he was gone. He stared down at the remains of the woman. He slid surgical gloves down onto his hands, an eery smile creeping up his face. Before he went any further he pulled a thin round device from his pocket, setting it onto the table.

"NOVA, I think I left my ring at my house." Eobard spoke to the small device. The NOVA was a newly operational virtual assistant, one which quickly grew to become a successful household item.

**"Allow me to perform a scan of your house. Spare me a moment, sir."**

"Sure." Eobard agreed, looking back down at the woman's body. His hand reached at a drawer underneath the metal table, pulling out a tray of surgical items, he lifted up a bone cutter.

**"Scan is complete, you were correct, sir, your replica Flash ring is still inside of your bedroom, would you like me to zetabeam it to you?"**

"Do you know what you're doing with that?" A woman asked, standing in front of the door, her arms folded. She had smooth tanned skin, rich blue eyes. Hair that flowed down to the shoulders. She wore a bright white lab coat, her ID tag clipped to the front of it.

"I'll have to say no to that, NOVA, hello Jynn." Eobard greeted her unenthusiastically, setting the bonecutter down. She walked toward the table, looking down at the body.

"She looks like she's been through quite the ringer." Jynn noted.

"I don't think I did anything wrong, Jynn. In fact I haven't even started."

"You know that you aren't really a pathologist right? You can't just grab the gloves and play dress up."

"I must have forgotten to say that my job description is pretty broad. Besides, I do have a biology degree." Eobard remarked.

"I'm not too sure about that, and neither is Augustus, that's why he called me in to supervise you. Now why do we need to draw her blood?" Jynn asked, grabbing the bonecutter.

"Well this woman got blown up to chunks on the monorail. There's a good chance that she had something inside of her bloodstream." Eobard explained to her.

"I can take a look, but I'll have to warn you, Eobard, it's not a sight for sore eyes." Jynn teased him, Eobard simply rolled his eyes in annoyance. Jynn reached for the surgical tray, pulling out a needle. "Might be a little more difficult extracting blood from a dead body, but not impossible."

"The organs shouldn't fully decompose for another few hours as far as I'm aware." Eobard added.

"Good eye, Professor." Jynn joked, holding up the needle, studying it carefully with an expert precision.

"How many other people know about that name?" Eobard pestered, demanding to know.

"I don't know, Eobard, you'll have to check in with Augustus about that." She smirked. Eobard tried to fire back with something witty when Augustus himself had reappeared inside of the lab.

"Eobard, can I talk to you in my office?" Augustus asked.

"Speak of the Devil." Eobard retorted.

It felt odd sitting inside of Augustus' office, it was a large room, fit with several wide windows providing a scenic view of the many different skyscrapers the city had to offer., Augustus sat facing him seated in a leather chair behind of a large wooden table. He may have been a friend to joke with but it was also clear that Augustus took his duties as Chief Investigative Officer very seriously as was evident by several monitors as well as the enormous stack of overflowing papers. It felt like sitting in the principal's office, waiting for the eventual scolding. His mind wandered, trying to grasp at what it could have been that he did wrong. His eyes darted across the room as he tapped his foot impatiently.

"One of the guys in forensics said the ninhydrin stock was a little low, Eobard. Have you been taking the ninhydrin?" Augustus asked him calmly, which rather scared Eobard, they weren't joking right now, this wasn't the side of Augustus that was his joking friend, this was the Chief officer side of him, who at the end of the day had the interests of the station first and foremost.

"Well...I may have, a little bit." Eobard confessed.

"You _may_ have?"

"I was working on an older case, Augustus, I needed to test some fingerprints." Eobard explained.

"You know the forensics chemicals are for the CSIs, you can't just take those without telling them." Augustus warned the consultant.

"Aren't these the same CSIs you had going on a scavenger hunt for body parts? I told you I needed it for a case, it takes three different forms and a signature from a superior for me to borrow chemicals, so I skipped a few steps and sped things up. I'm sorry." Eobard weakly apologized, to which Augustus let out a sigh.

"Just don't do it again this time, Eobard, some people are expressing their concerns that I've been too lenient with you ever since Glass Stone."

"People..like Jensen? Look, I'm good at cases, Augustus, if I piss a few people off along the way it isn't my problem that they're jealous."

"Eobard." Augustus spoke with conviction. "Just don't do it again." Augustus ordered, leaning forward, his hands clutching the sides of the table. It was frustrating for Eobard when Augustus was serious, especially when Augustus was stern and serious about something involving Eobard.

"Fine." Eobard agreed unenthusiastically as he shrunk into his chair, like a balloon being deflated. He then rose up from his chair, not waiting for a further response from his only friend, Eobard opened the door and let himself out.

"Do you have a minute?" Jyn bombarded him as soon as he stepped out, Eobard almost jumped up from surprise as a result.

"Were you waiting outside the office?" Eobard asked her as he began to walk down the hallway, Jyn following behind him. He noticed she was holding a thin glass tablet.

"I needed to wait until you were finished." Jynn explained.

"You and I both know that's not true, you wanted to hear Augustus tearing me a new one."

"I would be lying if I said it wasn't a treat." Jynn smirked. She then stepped in front of Eobard, abruptly stopping him and forcing the tablet into his hands. "I did the blood check, at first I didn't expect much. But look at her blood type, Eobard. It's P Negative." His eyes widened as he clutched the tablet, beginning to realize the gravity of what she was saying.

"That-that shouldn't be possible. You're sure about this?" Eobard asked incredulously. Pure disbelief ridden on his face.

"I checked again four times. All the same. Her blood is P Negative. The only other type of people with P Negative are metahumans."

"But metahumans have been extinct for almost two hundred years.." Eobard replied, he handed the tablet back to Jynn, placing his hand up to his chin, what did it mean? Was this really possible? Eobard began to turn back and walk away.

"Where are you going?" Jynn asked, confused.

"I need to tell Augustus." Eobard declared.

He had returned to the office, having told him the results. Augustus had reacted with the appropriate amount of disbelief that Eobard had expected.

"Her blood type matches, Augustus. I don't really know what to make of this, myself, but it's all of the information we have." He explained. Augustus folded his arms, he wore a face of confusion.

"Well...if this really is true, maybe the metahumans were never really extinct, maybe they just went into hiding? What about that year you spent with those fish people? You sure they weren't metas?"

"No, the fishmen of Nyarl-Amen were a very different story, they were an indigenous tribe from an alternate dimension that were brought here by Doctor Fate in the 1940s." Eobard corrected his friend, firm on the belief.

Was this woman simply one of many? The thoughts clouded Eobard's head like a snowstorm. On the one hand, he was fascinated, on the other, he was terrified.

"Do you think her power was getting blown up? Eobard, if she's a metahuman, then I don't think she's the only one still out there." Augustus speculated. Suddenly the door opened, they both shifted their attention to who was now standing in front of the doorway: Jenson."

**"Officer Finney, we've just got word that a plane inside of the Central City Aerodrome has blown up."**


	2. Chapter 2: The Greatest Minds

[November 1st, 2470]

Distinct tones of chatter rumbled inside of his ears, mixtures of murmurs and mumbles as he ran past the people those voices belonged to. Like a rat scurrying across. Carmine's throat was dry, his chest felt like it was being compressed. But still he ran across the streets of Central City, maneuvering around the crowds as best he could in his hurry.

"Rocket-Ship can you hear me?!" Carmine asked desperately, clutching the phone so close to his ear that the two could have been glued together."

"..dad..Dad, I'm scared." A young girl confessed, her voice shaky. He could hear the sounds of metal creaking and groaning. Knowing the danger they were in absolutely killed Carmine, knowing the terror and fear she was in.

"Don't be scared, Rocket-Ship, I'm on my way ok? Can you put mom on the phone for me?" He tried his best to reassure her.

"Carmine!" A woman on the other end breathed frantically, fear creeping up within her voice.

"I'm on my way, Moira, alright? Tell Dana it'll be ok." Carmine explained, his heart was soaring. Each second felt painfully drawn out as he eventually found himself in a crowd of people all gazing at the building. His fears were confirmed, the building was aching, like a diseased body. The metal creaked and groaned. The foundation wasn't secure yet. It wasn't secure yet and Carmine knew that but it didn't stop the building from still being constructed earlier than planned. He didn't know what he could do, but he had to get them out. He pushed and prodded his way through the crowd, desperately stumbling and trying to get to the building. To get to them. He could see the smoke billowing out from underneath the building, his frustrations only grew more as he could hear the metal's groans growing louder and louder. He wanted to rush through but he was stopped by several cops and firemen.

"Sir you can't—"

"Please-PLEASE, my wife and my daughter are...they're—PLEASE!" Carmine stammered. Struggling to push through. It all happened to fast. The ground rumbled, firefighters began to shout, suddenly Carmine was pushed back. He stumbled back into the crowd, the last sight he saw before the smoke clouded his vision was of the building going down. We don't really realize how good we have it until it all ends. Carmine's life ended on that day.

[BIC]***

[The Flash Museum: September 6th, 2462]

"You're wrong!" Eobard shouted at the top of his lungs, which in hindsight may not have been the best idea. He stood atop of the bleachers inside of the large lecture room, one of many that the Flash Museum had. Rows upon rows of people turned their heads back to stare back at Eobard. Some were curious, others were angry at his brash attitude. Eobard just zoned them out. What mattered was the standoff between himself and the so-called Flash 'expert' the museum had brought in.

"I'm sorry, Mr.." The lecturer asked for his name, a look of surprise on his face that someone was so brash as to question him.

"Eobard Thawne. I apologize for my being abrupt, Professor Drake."

"That's quite alright, Mr. Thawne.." Professor Drake reassured Eobard. Despite being a professor he wore a white labcoat as if he were a scientist, but perhaps that was appropriate when discussing the matters of the Flash. The Flash was more than a singular person, it was a concept. A culture. For proof of this one had to look no further than to the Flash museum. The mecca for all things related to the scarlet speedster. "Now why do you say that I'm wrong?"

"I'm glad that you've asked. You stated that the Flash died in the Crisis. But that's not true." Eobard explained, much to the dismay of the audience, their boos did little to faze him however.

"Is that so? But Eobard, a funeral was held for the Flash days after the Crisis ended. The service was attended by the Justice League, the Justice Society. Are you willing to call a significant amount of the superhero community liars?" Professor. Drake had raised a good point. To put something like this into question was certainly alarming. Well alarming to some.

"I'm not calling any of them liars, all I'm saying is that maybe their mourning was premature." Eobard suggested rather irresponsibly. He knew what it meant to call the status quo into question. But he still believed that he knew the Flash better than anyone else. The members of the audience shifted their heads back and forth between the two like they were observing a tennis game. "Now look, it's true that the Flash 'vanished' in the Crisis, but how do you explain two months after? Several witnesses reported seeing him speeding across the city. Several. This couldn't have been the Kid Flash because at this time he was still in Keystone, in fact he didn't become the Flash until atleast three years after the Crisis."

"There have been numerous points in history when groups of people reported seeing the same thing and yet they've always turned out false, at the very least not what they originally believed. That's a theory that has no proper basis behind it, Eobard. It's as far-fetched as Big Foot."

"But the difference between this and Sasquatch is that the Flash was real. He also wasn't fat and hairy." Eobard defended.

"This museum, while at its core about the Flash's history, is still founded on empirical data and facts, Eobard. Crackpot theories are not welcome here."

"Ok.." Eobard then knew that it was time for plan B. He pulled his NOVA out from his pocket, promptly turning it on. A bright blue hologram projected out. The hologram read in big bold letters: An Interpretation of the Mechanics of the Speed Force. "Fine. Forget that if you want. But consider giving this a read. I think that I have some great insights onto how the Speed Force works. I really believe that we can look at this as a base to then figure out what really happened to the Flash."

"Guards?" Professor Drake asked tiredly, several guards began to crowd over Eobard, beginning to lead him away. Eobard felt insulted, a brilliant mind like his being treated no better than a common heckler.

"This place is supposed to be a mecca for the greatest minds! I'm on to something! Just—just wait!" Eobard heard distinct mumbles and chuckles from the crowds as the guards lead him out the door: rather forcefully shoving him out.

[BIC][Central City Aerodrome]

"We need to find this guy fast." Augustus told Eobard. The recent news of an airplane exploding had sent the members of the CCPD on high alert.

"This HAS to be in connection to what happened with the monorail, right?" Eobard asked him as they walked through the airport hanger bay, which had now been forcibly closed off to the CCPD for investigation. Eobard felt a rush of excitement which perhaps was inappropriate given the circumstances. As they walked, Eobard's eyes gazed over the massive airplane which had been out in the center of the hangar bay. It was covered in scorch marks, much of the exterior was burnt. The wings however were still intact, Eobard could see white paint from the patches that weren't burnt into oblivion. Eobard assumed it must've been a wide-body airliner. One that, given its size could fit quite a large amount of people onboard. Truthfully, Eobard wasn't one to care much for aviation. Given this era's many strides in technological advancements, global travel had underwent in evolution thanks to zeta beam technology. The technology could send people across the planet within mere minutes. But traveling via Zeta beam was quite expensive. So expensive that only the top 10% were ever able to truly enjoy the advancement. Profit, Eobard thought, it often impeded progress. Eobard finished his thought when he took notice of the multiples firefighters standing around the airliner, a firetruck beside them spraying water all around the damaged plane.

"Fire department's on this too?" Eobard asked as if it wasn't an obvious choice for the manner.

"Well Eobard that's typically what we do when there's a lot of fire around." Augustus replied sarcastically.

"They didn't show up at the monorail."

"We were lucky, instead of fires forming from that explosion we just got the blood shower."

"Good for us.." Eobard commented. Once the two got close to the remains of the airplane, Augustus greeted one of the firefighters, the two shaking hands.

"It's great to see you again, Augustus!" The firefighter exclaimed, his face was covered in soot. Even staining the grey mustache that draped over his upper lip. His hair, or whatever was oeft of it, was tucked under his yellow helmet, He wore a yellow leather firefighter's jacket. Painstakingly yellow in fact, the kind of yellow that stood out like Big-Bird at a funeral. Eobard couldn't help but fixate on that one tedious observation. He wasn't really one to care much about choices regarding to fashion but he couldn't imagine wearing something that bright and that tacky. Hideous, Eobard thought to himself.

"Pleasure's all mine, Captain Penn." Augustus replied, shaking his hand.

"Who's your friend?" Pen asked quizzically, nodding toward Eobard.

"Eobard Thawne, pleased to meet you." Eobard introduced himself, smiling dryly as he lurched forward to shake Penn's hand.

"So, how'd this happen?" Augustus asked.

"From what the airport control's been telling us, the plane was an Excalibur VF-18."

"Wow, that's a pretty powerful one, isn't that one of the planes made from Stagg Conglomerate?" Augustus commented.

"Sure is, but the airplane wasn't scheduled for any immediate flights. It had been sitting here stationary for about two days. Some of your guys pulled the body out before we got here. I wish I could tell you more, but that's all that I really know." Penn explained.

"Thank you, Penn. Augustus, why don't we take a look at the body?" Eobard suggested. The two then breaking away from Penn and the remnants of the scorched plane. They went across the hangar bay and approached the CSI's, Eobard's eyes lit up with fascination a he managed to get a good look at the body. It was a good look, but it wasn't a perfect one, which Eobard sought to correct as he not-so-gently nudged a few CSIs away in order to get closer to the body, crouching down to observe it.

"Sorry." Augustus apologized to the annoyed CSIs on Eobard's behalf. The body was not unlike the one they had found earlier on the monorail, it was a man, rather burnt to a crisp, it would be hard to properly ID him without an autopsy but Eobard figured he was probably within his mid 40s. However unlike the first one, this body was not separated in half.

"Something's wrong with this body." Eobard declared as his eyes were glued to the corpse.

"Gee, you think?" Augustus asked trivially.

"No, I mean the last one was noticeably split in two. Blood was everywhere. It looked like half of her body was bit off by a shark. But this one...other than being burnt to a crisp it's perfectly fine."

"I think you and I have a different understanding of the word." Augustus joked, earning a few chuckles from the crowd of CSIs around them. Eobard simply rolled his eyes and raised his hand up, attempting to shoo the crowd of CSI's away.

"Alright, guys, take a little break." Augustus advised the group, which gladly dispersed upon his request.

"Try not to be quippy right now, tell me what he's wearing." Eobard instructed him, standing up and letting Augustus get a better view of the body. The body was still horribly burnt, and the clothes he wore weren't much better. But Augustus could tell that he was wearing a jacket. He stepped closer to the body, he could see something sticking out from the jacket. It was horribly melted now, but he could tell it was brass. He squinted his eyes, hoping it would do him good, he could see that something was faintly imprinted on it.

"Was he wearing a badge...with a bird on it?" Augustus asked Eobard.

"That was the insignia for the Blackhawks. They were a squadron that flew planes in World War 2. The original team disbanded after the War ended but the full squadron didn't fully go defunct until 2003."

"Why would he be wearing this? Why would he target an empty plane too?" Augustus asked.

"I think it's a lot like with the woman in the Supergirl costume. These people aren't the masterminds. They're just puppets being coerced." Eobard theorized, yet still something was not adding up. How was it that both cases resulted in explosions, and yet this body was not nearly as worse for wear as the first? What did the possibility of the first being a metahuman mean? Eobard thought long before he next spoke, could this one also be a metahuman? If so, could his abilities have altered the explosion? Could his abilities have caused the explosion?

"We should get this body sent to the lab. Jynn can take a look at him." Augustus advised, practically reading Eobard's mind. He nodded his head in agreement, but not before taking one good look at the hangar bay.

"You said this was the Central City Aerodrome, right?"

"Yeah, why, is there something else you know?"

There was something special about this location, about the Aerodome, Eobard knew that. Even if he didn't entirely remember what it was. Regardless, Eobard knew that Central City was being duped, someone was orchestrating these hits and he feared that this would not be the last one.

"It's on the tip of my tongue, Augustus.."

[BIC]"In 2016, an A380 was arriving inbound from Washington, expected to return to the Leawood airport when it experienced mechanical difficulties. The crash would have been catastrophic had it not been for the Flash. In an impressive feat the Flash managed to phase the entirety of the plane, allowing for it to pass through several buildings and instead land into the nearby river. Leawood airport is now known as the Central City Aerodrome."

"YES! That's it. Thank you, NOVA." Eobard shouted out in joy, satisfied to have had his problem solved.

[BIC]"I am glad that I could be of some assistance, sir. Is there anything else you require?"

"No, that will be all." Eobard replied as he scurried out of his office, rushing to tell Augustus his most recent breakthrough. He practically ran down the hallway, pushing through several people walking past him. Once he reached the office he lunged for the door, practically ripping it open as he entered. He found Augustus seated at his desk, stacked with the familiar mountains of paperwork. Augustus had his eyes down on a case file and his hand attached to a fork, which was poking through a salad.

"Knocking, Eobard. It's a custom going back thousands of years." Augustus replied, not even having to look up from his work to know that it was Eobard who had stumbled in.

"I've got it now. I know why the Aerodrome felt so familiar. Several centuries ago it was known as Leawood Airport. One of their inbound planes nearly crashed into the city but they were all saved by the Flash. That plane? It was an A380."

"You just magically know all of this?" Augustus asked bemusedly.

"I don't have to, we have NOVAs afterall." Eobard retorted without missing a beat. "Now, A380s are fast, but not just that, they're a much earlier predecessor to the Excalibur VF-18!" Eobard exclaimed, waiting for his a-ha moment to fully sink in. But to his dismay, Augustus simply nodded his head.

"Good job, Eobard." Augustus congratulated him before taking another bite of his salad, loudly chewing up lettuce and tomatoes.

"Good job? That's something you tell a dog for not chewing the carpet!" Eobard fired back defensively.

"Eobard, no offense but I'm failing to see the bigger picture here."

"Don't you see, Augustus?" Eobard asked as he leaned onto the side of the table. "Supergirl, Blackhawks, an airplane in an airport connected to the Flash. He's telling a story here."

Augustus slowly leaned into his chair, considering Eobard's theory.

"What do you think this person is trying to say?" Augustus asked him as he picked a crouton from his salad and plopped it into his mouth much to Eobard's dismay.

"Probably some kind of warning. First it was the monorail, now the aerodrome, he's picking out major transportation hubs. But...the costumes tell me that it's more than just that. He knows quite a lot of his history...now would you please stop doing that?"

"Doing what?" Augustus asked, confusedly.

"Those chewing noises, you're smacking your fats lips together and it's rather annoying."

"I think that we're getting a little off-topic here, Eobard." Augustus rationalized.

It was quite stupid, and truthfully Eobard was getting defensive for no good reasons, but Eobard wasn't a normal person by any stretch.

"Something going on?" Jynn's voice cut in, the two bickering police turned their heads to see her. "Door was open."

"What is it, Jynn?" Eobard barked impatiently before sighing. "I apologize. Augustus and I were having a bit of an eccentric conversation."

"That's ok." Jynn responded, accepting his apology, she held a folder in her hands as she walked forward, placing it into Augustus' desk before continuing. "The autopsy of the second body is done."

"Is it.." Augustus asked, keeping his voice down. They were the only people who knew about the first body being a metahuman, and right now they couldn't afford letting the whole department know. Metahumans were known for being dangerous, and knowing that they could potentially be back would certainly set people on edge.

"It's P Negative." Jynn revealed. Eobard and Augustus both looked at each other with expressions of uncertainty.

"Jynn, close the door." Eoabard whispered, she nodded her head and shut the door, the three now being the only ones in the department knowing of TWO metahuman corpses.

"What the hell does this mean?" Augustus asked.

"I wish I had the answer but I don't. I'm sorry." Jynn apologized.

"Well, we can't just wait. Regardless of if they were metahumans or not, even though that SHOULD be impossible...well, we have to do something." Eobard urged. But what could they do? The truth was that they were like sitting ducks, just waiting for this mad bomber to strike next.

"We can try to figure out what his next hit will be. You said that he was hitting transport hubs." Augustus said, to which Eobard nodded his head. Yet would that be enough to suggest a pattern? What if the next hit was somewhere else entirely? Maybe they needed to lock down the entire city. But even then Eobard wasn't sure how effective that would be. They needed something to change the tide against this invisible force of evil they came into contact with. There was a loud crash outside of the office, to which the three all hurried out of the room. The main entrance doors had been pushed wide open, smoke had actually began to form like a black cloud. Officers all began to rush to the site of disturbance, several raised their firearms up.

"Hold on!" Augustus ordered, pushing through the crowd of officers, Eobard and Jynn followed behind them. It was now that Eobard could see what caused Augustus to call his men off. Amidst the smoke was a girl, she looked no older than 17. She wore tattered denim jeans and a red stained sweatshirt. Eobard quickly noticed that it was blood. Her hair stuck to her face as she heaved. Her entire face was pulsated red.

"Somebody get us a medic!" Eobard shouted out to the crowd. Augustus knelt down to the girl, carefully placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright? What happened to you?" Augustus asked her. The girl still heaved, coughing up so much that Eobard thought she would either pass out to puke up a lung. But in spaced out breaths she managed to mutter something coherent to Augustus.

"...Architect...don't let him...find me..."


End file.
